Chinese team thinks ‘outside the box’ to find a cool solution to hypersonic heat
- Scientists say they have come up with a simple, cylindrical device that can control one of the biggest challenges to hypersonic flight
The new cooling device can operate for up to 2½ hours – significantly longer than previously reported solutions and enough for a journey from one side of the Earth to the other.
It has a simple structure and the cost is relatively low because it does not have complex components like heat pipes or booster pumps. And it is reusable – it just needs clean water added before each flight.
The team behind it was led by Li Shibin, an assistant researcher with the National University of Defence Technology’s College of Aerospace Science and Engineering in Changsha, Hunan.
They reported on their invention in the Journal of National University of Defence Technology this month.
“The system effectively utilises the thermal energy generated by aerodynamic heating as the driving force for the active cooling cycle, achieving autonomous pressurisation and cooling of the heat control device,” the paper said.